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Royal Rumble Match
The Royal Rumble is a 30/40 Man Match primarily featured in WWE in the month of January. It is based on the classic Battle Royal match, in which a number of wrestlers aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. The winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated. The Royal Rumble differs from the classical Battle Royal as the contestants do not enter the ring at the same time but instead are "assigned" entry numbers, usually via a lottery, although they can win guaranteed, desirable spots via a number of other scripted means, the most common being winning a match. This lottery is usually staged right before the event begins. The match begins with the two wrestlers who have drawn entry numbers one and two, with the remaining 28 wrestlers entering the ring at regular timed intervals, either 90 seconds or two minutes, according to their entry number. This format is credited to Pat Patterson. The reward for winning the 1992 Royal Rumble was the WWF Championship. The tradition of granting a WWE Championship match at WWE WrestleMania started in 1993. Despite being introduced in late 2002, it was not until 2004 that a winner had the option to choose a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship instead of the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. With the revival of the ECW Championship in mid-2006, the title became a third option for the winner to choose since the 2007 event. From 2001 to 2007, the Royal Rumble match winner had gone on to win a World Championship title at WrestleMania. After winning the 2008 match, John Cena became the first winner to use his championship opportunity at an event (WWE No Way Out 2008) other than WrestleMania. He also became the first since The Rock in 2000 to win the Royal Rumble match but fail to win the title in his championship opportunity as a result. The Royal Rumble winner may also choose to put his championship opportunity on the line in a match. This was first done in 1996, when Shawn Michaels risked his WWE WrestleMania 12 title shot in a match against Owen Hart at WWF In Your House 6. Male Royal Rumble Winners * 1988 - Jim Duggan * 1989 - Big John Studd * 1990 - Hulk Hogan * 1991 - Hulk Hogan * 1992 - Ric Flair * 1993 - Yokozuna * 1994 - Bret Hart / Lex Luger * 1995 - Shawn Michaels * 1996 - Shawn Michaels * 1997 - Steve Austin * 1998 - Steve Austin * 1999 - Mr McMahon * 2000 - The Rock * 2001 - Steve Austin * 2001 - Steve Austin * 2002 - Triple H * 2003 - Brock Lesnar * 2004 - Chris Benoit * 2005 - Batista * 2006 - Rey Mysterio * 2007 - The Undertaker * 2008 - John Cena * 2009 - Randy Orton * 2010 - Edge * 2011 - Alberto Del Rio * 2012 - Sheamus * 2013 - John Cena * 2014 - Batista * 2015 - Roman Reigns * 2016 - Triple H * 2017 - Randy Orton * 2018 - Shinsuke Nakamura ** 2018 Greatest - Braun Strowman * 2019 - Seth Rollins * 2020 - Drew McIntyre Women's Royal Rumble Winners * 2018 - Asuka * 2019 - Becky Lynch * 2020 - Charlotte Flair See Also WWE Royal Rumble, WWE Championships